Tax Day Draws Nigh

A friendly reminder that tomorrow is tax day, so if you haven’t filed your return yet you probably want to do that. Even though we generally suggest avoiding procrastination in matters of personal finance, we cast no judgment and just want to make sure you come out of tomorrow with a clean slate. Check out our survival guides to taxes and you should be fine. But if you’re really in dire straights, it might be time to organize a “Math Bus” and hit up some college campuses (safe for work, but given that this is a Bang Bus spoof I can’t vouch for any “related videos” that might pop up if you link over to YouTube):

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So I finally finished up my taxes and sent them out at the post office today. Awesome experience.

I got there at 5:15pm (fifteen minutes prior to closing). From an entertainment perspective, this timing couldn't have been better. The three attendants behind the service desk couldn't have been more burnt out, and after the doors closed at 5:30pm and a customer somehow “snuck in,” all hell broke lose (which was kind of awesome). Then a guy tried to get into the office because he lost his glasses and the attendants wouldn’t let him past the door: they asked the remaining customers to look so that another person couldn’t sneak in; no joke.

Moral of the story though? Get to the office at an off hour, and definitely don't play this one down to the wire; the IRS doesn't accept any excuses if you're letter is post-marked after April 15, T-Day. And those people who couldn’t sneak in today (April 14) at least have one more day to send their return (April 15).

Now, you might ask why the post office? Because I've been told time and time again, especially when you send anything to the IRS, send it via certified mail and request a return receipt. This way, if your letter actually gets lost (note: not that you forgot to send it and just told them that it got lost, but it actually got lost), you have a record from the government stating that you did in fact send the letter and for some reason it just didn't make it. In addition, the return receipt is proof of the IRS receiving it. This should cost around $5. That being said, you of course don’t have to send it this way, but for $5 and some time spent waiting on a line, you’ll be assured that you won’t have to deal with fines and complicated forms because the IRS never got your taxes and you didn’t do anything to prevent it.

So your next question might be how do I sent via certified mail and with a return receipt?

You need to go to the post office and fill out two forms: the certified mail form and the return receipt. They’re self explanatory, but I'd fill them out and then confirm with someone in the office that you've done it right. And if you’re sending a return receipt, don’t forget to fill out that back.